Masahiro Hidaka

The Bank of Japan’s unprecedented review of its unprecedented monetary policy has stepped up focus on a key group of Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda’s allies. A trio of top officials in the Monetary Affairs Department, led by Executive Director Masayoshi Amamiya — referred to by ...

Having adopted a negative interest rate on some excess reserves to penalize financial institutions for leaving money idle, the Bank of Japan may consider helping them lend by offering a negative rate on some loans, according to people familiar with talks at the BOJ. ...

The Bank of Japan is poised, for the third time in less than a year, to push back the time frame for reaching its inflation target, making it harder for policymakers to hold off from enlarging monetary stimulus. Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda until now has ...

Bank of Japan officials are increasingly expressing disappointment at subdued annual wage talks, according to people familiar with the discussions, making next week’s monetary-policy decision a closer call. Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has said publicly that pay raises have been muted given the tighter jobs ...

Poor data for exports and industrial output have the potential to force the Bank of Japan into bolstering stimulus later this month, said a former chief economist for the BOJ. Weak production could destroy the picture the central bank has presented of an economy ...

The Bank of Japan’s unprecedented monetary stimulus can drive inflation to its 2 percent target, Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said as the bank left its policy unchanged and trimmed its price outlook. A slowdown in Japan’s economy is unlikely to continue this quarter while inflation ...

The Bank of Japan’s chief economist urged the government to adjust consumer price data to better reflect housing costs, a change he estimates would boost the inflation rate by as much as 0.2 percentage point. By more accurately taking into account changes in quality ...

With its reluctance to add to record monetary stimulus even as inflation remains well below its target, the Bank of Japan has stoked speculation about it scaling back its asset purchases as soon as early 2016. Economists in recent weeks have been re-examining the ...

The excessive strength in the yen that damaged Japanese manufacturing in recent years has now been corrected, according to an ally of Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda. “The abnormally strong yen has been corrected,” said Yutaka Harada, who joined the central bank’s Policy ...

The Bank of Japan refrained from increasing monetary stimulus, as Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda bets on stronger growth fueling inflation that is one-tenth the BOJ’s target. The central bank will continue to boost the monetary base at an annual pace of ¥80 trillion, it said ...